My quest!! To get crystal clear water in a 40gb

[Moloch]

Not sure where the xp3 complaints are coming from...I have one on my 55 & one on my 65, love em both. I haven't had any problems priming them at any point, they feel quite solid, I just haven't had any issues come up and I'm practically brand new to the game.

Granted, that also means I haven't tried anything else. But for the xp3 being my first canister filter (only experience before that was a top-fin20 & a magnum hot250) I found it extremely easy to setup and use and both my tanks stay nice and clear (with the occasional cloud on my 65 for some reason)

 

[ar0wan]

It's not the filter it's the media
get the XP3 or 405 and stock it with

Polishing Pads
Purigen
Matrix
Sponges

GL
HTH

 

[Moloch]

^ not how I've been rolling.

Initially on the 65 I did this:
fluval prefilter media
2x rena 30ppi pad
2x rena 20ppi pad
ceramic rings
ceramic rings & rena stars
floss-like filter bags (top-fin brand) & polishing pad.

With this setup, my clarity was a joke:\ Now I do this in my 65:
fluval pre-filter media
1x 30ppi & 1x 20ppi
ceramic rings
ceramic rings
ceramic rings & stars
pot scrubbies

and this in my 55:
fluval prefilter media
1x 30ppi & 1x 20ppi
ceramic rings (just a small handfull) pot scrubbies
pot scrubbies
pot scrubbies
pot scrubbies

Both tanks stay nice & clear, had them setup like this for 3-4 weeks & haven't had to open up for maintenance yet. I'll probably open em up this weekend & see how the scrubbies look. Each tray of scrubbies is holding ten if I remember right, two rows of 4 & 2 in-between the two rows. More bio than I know what to do with and I feel like the scrubbies work as polishers as well, especially with how many I have stacked in the 55's filter...

 

[cichlid2006]

See, I LOVE my FX5, but I've heard so many mixed reviews on the smaller fluval models. Did they have some design problems they worked out?

I think there were problems on the 403 and 404 but these were fixed which produced the 405 which from the year I had with it was flawless and a breeze to clean and put back together.

 

[siebertn]

Purigen, put in any filter, sump canister hob anuthing.

 

[geronimo69]

Filter floss, changed every few days, in any of the mentioned filters. Cheap and easy.

 

[Kolkri]

Water changes well give you clear clean water.

 

[geronimo69]

Water changes well give you clear clean water.

Water changes will give you CLEAN water, not necessarily clear water. Small floating particles will not get taken out by water changes alone. You need some type of mechanical filtration.

 

[Moloch]

Eh I just took my 55's xp3 apart and realized I lied a bit, for some reason I can't edit my last post.

I only have 2 layers of pot scrubbies, but there are 14 scrubbies per layer. 14 pot scrubbies neatly & tightly fills one XP basket.

Also.....really NO idea what people are talking about with trouble priming. Just flip the quick disconnect after you cut the power when you take it down, do whatever you want to the bucket, hook it back up empty & flip the quick disconnect back down. Wait until it fills & cut the power back on.

The only I notice is that it doesn't fill 100% of the way sometimes. When this happens, I just wait till the water stops coming in & pop ONE of the latches. Relieve just a bit of pressure from the lid/pump and the canister fills, latch it back down before the water starts spilling out of the sides. When you turn it on you'll get some bubbles at first but its cleared up/air free within 5-10 minutes I'd say, maybe less than that.

 

[aclockworkorange]

Eh I just took my 55's xp3 apart and realized I lied a bit, for some reason I can't edit my last post.

I only have 2 layers of pot scrubbies, but there are 14 scrubbies per layer. 14 pot scrubbies neatly & tightly fills one XP basket.

Also.....really NO idea what people are talking about with trouble priming. Just flip the quick disconnect after you cut the power when you take it down, do whatever you want to the bucket, hook it back up empty & flip the quick disconnect back down. Wait until it fills & cut the power back on.

The only I notice is that it doesn't fill 100% of the way sometimes. When this happens, I just wait till the water stops coming in & pop ONE of the latches. Relieve just a bit of pressure from the lid/pump and the canister fills, latch it back down before the water starts spilling out of the sides. When you turn it on you'll get some bubbles at first but its cleared up/air free within 5-10 minutes I'd say, maybe less than that.

I didn't say trouble priming, I said trouble purging air... as in after a few days I've noticed the filter gets air trapped in it and the flow is reduced. This is after the annoying priming process, which you make sound easy but I have 5 tanks dude, I don't have time for that. Your filter sounds like you recently purchased it... try using it for 5 years and tell me you don't have issues. BTW, the eheim I own that's OLDER still runs perfectly.
You know what I like? My FX5... it primes itself automagically and it shuts down for 2 minutes every day to purge air, and it's an all around awesome filter.